Soapbox: Doug Wregg talks natural beauty

Doug Wregg considers prejudice, provenance and ideology in a spoofy wine world.

Q&A: Bruce Jack, The Drift Estate, Bruce Jack Wines, La Bascula

Andrew Catchpole catches up with the irrepressible Bruce Jack for the lowdown on life during the Covid crisis and publishing his own magazine.

Tim Atkin MW: A taste of things to come?

Everyone seems to have advice about how to get through lockdown. Even if we’re all still sitting here in December, our diaries emptier than your local Wetherspoons, I can’t imagine the well-meaning guidance changing much. Eat healthily, exercise, take up a new hobby, read a book, tidy your cupboards, call your friends and family, order food online.

McKeon parts with Accolade

Accolade Wines has confirmed that Ade McKeon, the company’s regional MD for Europe, will be leaving the company.

Joe Fattorini: Together we can change the world

“By May 1966, the plan to dam the Grand Canyon was all but enshrined in law. The bulldozers were already shattering the primordial peace, the scaffolding was up and the drilling had begun.” As one campaigner said: “The fight was lost. The dams had been approved. They were being supported by the Kennedy administration … and both houses of Congress.” His voice tinged with a despondency many of us have come to know in the past few weeks.

Jerry Lockspeiser: The Covid experience - does diversification deliver business resilience?

One of the pleasures of writing an opinion piece for Harpers is keeping abreast of business issues. This comes partly through experience and discussion, partly through reading what others are writing.

Q&A: Etienne Debanné, president, & Gabriel Rivero, winemaker, IXSIR

Swapping lunch in London for a live link to Lebanon, Andrew Catchpole catches up with a rising Middle Eastern star.

Q&A: Christopher Lecoufle, general manager and head sommelier, Les 110 de Taillevent

Jo Gilbert speaks to the UK face of French restaurant group Taillevent about taking the decision to close its doors prior to the official lockdown, and what that means for the future

David Gleave MW: Drinking up recovery

David Gleave MW, MD of Liberty Wines, on how upselling diversity in wines will be the way to thrive 

Guy Woodward: Back in the drinks world

With perfect timing, I start a new job this week. Yep – all the boxes are ticked: world in lockdown, nose-diving economy, stalled investments, uncertain future.

Central Coast with Alex Krause, Birichino

Birichino’s flight at the recent Wines of California tasting was a lesson in how to go against the grain, with a focus on native ferments and century-old dry-farmed plantings all made at its Santa Cruz winery.

Joe Fattorini: The power of ‘no’

Joe Fattorini, head of London sales at Fields, Morris & Verdin

Covid-19: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Writing an opinion piece about the Covid-19 pandemic and what it might mean for society, or the drinks trade specifically, is surely a fool’s errand. The information changes every few hours. It feels rather like trying to bottle goodwill, or as Adele so beautifully sang, setting fire to the rain.

Pierre Mansour, The Wine Society, on trade as the crisis escalates

Pierre Mansour, head buyer at The Wine Society, speaks to Andrew Catchpole on the immediate impact of the crisis, managing the spike in sales, supply and virtual initiatives to keep members engaged.

Chris Losh: averting an on-trade apocalypse

This was the week that the Coronavirus got real. Ten days ago in the UK Covid-19 was largely the source of ironic fist-bumps and the odd cancelled tasting. Dying and panicking was what other people did. With a complacency that now seems barely credible, the government’s message at the end of February was, broadly, ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’.

Q&A: Christopher Delalonde MS, The Dorchester

Jo Gilbert catches up with the straight-talking former Sommelier of the Year about The Dorchester’s new wine vault, keeping abreast of five wine lists and why Gordon Ramsay is the best boss he ever had

Q&A: Charles Tyler, Paladar

Tim Atkin MW: Spare a thought for the wine tasters that get it right

TIM ATKIN MW

Jerry Lockspeiser: Is it game over for wine?

Is it all over for wine as we know it? Shall we pack up and go home, accepting our time has passed?

Joe Fattorini: Do your bottles shame you?

Joe Fattorini